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Former England defender Micah Richards has called on Harry Maguire to temporarily surrender the Manchester United captain's armband to Cristiano Ronaldo.

Maguire has endured a tough season, with United poised to end the campaign empty-handed after dropping out of the Champions League at the hands of Atletico Madrid. The former Leicester man scored an own goal in the victory over Tottenham, and his misery continued against the Spanish champions as a section of the home crowd cheered Ralf Rangnick's decision to take him off in the closing stages.

Richards went through similar struggles during his own playing career, most notably during his time at Aston Villa. And the pundit has suggested Maguire could benefit from passing the armband to Ronaldo until he gets his own performances back on track, pointing to the Portuguese forward's own input against Spurs with his match-winning hat-trick.

"The captain... basically becomes the scapegoat [when a team is struggling]," Richards wrote in his column for The Mail. "I'm pretty sure if Liverpool were in United's position — not competing for trophies and labouring in the Premier League — Jordan Henderson would be in a similar position.

"I'm not calling for Harry to be stripped of the role completely. Perhaps he could do with having the weight off his shoulders for the rest of this campaign. He hasn't stepped out